Development News

It's smooth currents for the organizers of the Huron River Water Trail, a 104-mile inland paddling route intended to improve recreational access and connect communities along the Huron, from its headwaters in northern Oakland County to its mouth in Lake Erie. The Huron River Water Trail is part of RiverUp!, a larger river revitalization initiative.

Superior Dam in Superior Township has just received a $33,000 upgrade for paddler accessibility; paddlers formerly had to wrangle an unmarked and unkempt portage. The overgrown brush around the portage has been cleared and a low deck for easier access, a new graded path, a sign, and a safer and easier put-in on the downstream side of portage have been installed. The Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC) partnered with the city of Ann Arbor, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Superior Township, Smith Group JJR for the design, and Michigan Hardscape for construction.

"It's the first water trail improvement project that we completed, and we're pretty excited to start getting some more experience under our belts with making these improvements on the trail, both the portages around dams and the access points for launching and landing," says Elizabeth Riggs, deputy director of the HRWC.

The HRWC now has its eye on completing the installation of wayfinding signs at key points along the river's 104 navigable miles, starting at the upstream end. Signs are starting to go up at Proud Lake and Island Lake Recreation Area. Riggs says the HRWC hopes to have all signage installed by this fall.

As funds become available, Riggs says other projects in the pipeline include installing a landing and launch point at Island Park in Ann Arbor; new portages at Ford Lake Dam in Ypsilanti Township and the French Landing Dam in Van Buren Township; and improving portage access at Flat Rock Dam in the city of Flat Rock. The existing cumbersome portage directs paddlers to a land parcel owned by Flat Rock Metal, Inc. and requires them to call ahead for a company representative to unlock a fence on the property, which runs up to the river bank.

A flipbook of waterproof maps of the entire river should be available by year-end, Riggs says.

Source: Elizabeth Riggs, deputy director,  Huron River Watershed Council
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The Chelsea police department is moving into its new headquarters at 311 S. Main St. later in July and should be running its entire operations there by August, according to John Hanifan, Chelsea's city manager.

The one-story building has 6,600 square feet on the ground level and an additional 5,000-square-foot finished-basement service and storage area. The $2.5 million project is outfitted with Energy Star-compliant mechanical systems, occupancy sensors in all rooms, and LED or high-efficiency light fixtures, Hanifan says.

Besides housing the police department's 12 full-time employees, the building has chamber space for the Chelsea City Council. The council formerly held meetings in rented space at local schools.

The police department, which has been occupying a storefront space on Middle Street, now has space adequate for its needs. "Architects Design Group did a great job with the design," Hanifan says. "It fits very well into downtown Chelsea and it looks like it belongs here."

Source: John Hanifan, Chelsea city manager
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Hungry University of Michigan students and Ann Arborites won't have to cross too many downtown blocks to find build-to-order salads, sandwiches, and stone oven pizza. In fact, some of them will only need to go downstairs.

NeoPapalis restaurant, a new-concept offshoot of the PizzaPapalis and RioWraps chains in metro Detroit, is set to begin serving on the ground floor of the Zaragon West high-rise apartment building at East William and Thompson Streets this fall – very possibly in September, according to owner Joe Sheena.

The 50-seat quick-service eatery won't offer table service. It will have customizable choices ranging from $3 to $12 apiece on the menu and be run by green standards, including aluminum and styrofoam-free disposable ware and energy-efficient lighting and mechanical systems.

Sheena anticipates hiring 25-45 employees to staff NeoPapalis, which will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.

"I think this whole idea is geared towards being on a college campus, and what better place to try to launch off this new concept than to do it in the Ann Arbor market," Sheena says.

Source: Joe Sheena, owner, NeoPapalis
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The electric tide is coming to Ann Arbor, and the city's downtown development authority wants to embrace it. Last week the city held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for 18 new electric vehicle charging stations placed in six city parking structures:  Fourth and William, Maynard, Ann and Ashley, Forest Avenue, and Fourth and Catherine, as well as the soon-to-open Library Lane facility.

The Ann Arbor DDA has found the usage to be higher than expected at the stations, some of which have been in place for the last month, according to Dave Konkle, the DDA's energy programs director. On average, three cars a day plug in to the 220-volt, 30-amp type 2 chargers at each station. "They can charge five times faster than the ones you plug into your own house," he says.

The stations offer free plug-ins, although normal parking fees apply. The average charge uses about 80 cents' worth of electricity, says Konkle.

The outlets were funded through a $110,000 U.S. Dept. of Energy's Clean Cities Recovery Act grant passed through the Clean Energy Coalition.

Konkle says within the next two months the DDA will be adding a link to its website showing the locations of the chargers and whether they are in use at that moment. A mobile phone app with this real-time availability information will follow.

With the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf out in circulation, and the new Ford Focus and Prius plug-in hybrid following at their heels, "Our logic was that this is certainly something that is coming and Ann Arbor needs to be ready for it," Konkle says.

Drivers can "take their electric cars and, without worrying, they can come to downtown Ann Arbor and park and plug them in and go to the restaurants or the music venues or whatever they want."

Source: Dave Konkle, energy programs director, Ann Arbor DDA
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The beer barrels are gone, and now a think tank has moved into the walk-out basement of a circa-1894 building that formerly housed the Northern Brewery. The Forge, a new collaborative workspace open for user groups, events, and other mind-sharing purposes, has opened at 1327 Jones Drive in Ann Arbor, also home to Tech Brewery.

The Forge is also the first office space for Pillar Technology, a Brighton, Mich.-based tech consultancy that employs 45 in Michigan, 45 in Ohio, and another 30-40 in six states around the U.S., according to Pillar Technology CEO Bob Myers.

"We have more work than we have people, so we could probably add anywhere from 20-30 people if we could find the talent," Myers says, adding, "So there'll be a lot of training and instruction and community events where we're helping people to learn how to do IT and put them to work."

The roughly 4,000 square-foot space can field about 30-40 workers. The company renovated the interior from scratch, installing windows, a stairwell, a kitchen area, enclosing the walls, and furnishing it with big screen TVs and collaborative-style furniture made by Steelcase.

There is no charge to use the facility, "but there's gotta be a purpose. You've gotta be in here trying to accomplish something to advance the cause ... that's what the only requirement is," Myers says.

The cause being? "The cause is innovation and bringing innovation to the area, creating jobs, helping people to figure out what constraints are real and which ones are perceived, and breaking those off. Innovation and incubation, really a place to go where you can learn and fail and it's okay. Just to really better yourself."

Source: Bob Myers, CEO, Pillar Technology
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Those not wanting to wheel out the grill this summer can drop in to Jake's BBQ, Dexter's new restaurant devoted to all things cookout. The restaurant space, which opened earlier in June at 8050 Main St., formerly housed owner Bart Aniolczyk's Jake's Place, a venue for Polish cuisine takeout.

The European concept didn't pan out, Aniolczyk says, but his luck has turned for the better with the new barbecue menu. He's in the process of adding more smokers to meet the demand for, among other things, pulled pork and other artisanal comfort foods.

While Jake's BBQ's primary business is take-out, the revamped interior now seats 10 and has 12 outdoor seats. Aniolczyk will add umbrellas and bring the outdoor seating up to 20. He cites Dexter's "family feel" as reason for keeping his eatery there.

He has added two jobs, with more planned, but there is no firm count yet. "I'm sure I'll have to add more people as I go," he says.

Source:  Bart Aniolczyk, owner, Jake's BBQ
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board's vote last week to release funding for all WALLY (Washtenaw and Livingston Railway) expenditures means the station design phase will now get underway. The total AATA budget for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012 was $230,000, most but not all of which will be applied to the station design, says Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning.

WALLY is a planned 26-mile north-south stretch of commuter railway spanning from downtown Howell to Ann Arbor. The rail line would run on existing track largely owned by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. The end point in Ann Arbor, however, is yet to be determined. Track ownership changes on the city's north side to the Ann Arbor Railroad, which has objected to providing passenger service, according to Benham.

The Great Lakes Central Railroad terminates in the Plymouth and Barton Road vicinity. That stop could serve the U-M Medical Center, the North Campus Research Complex, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other employers, Benham says, but, "Ideally we'd continue to go downtown and then that would open up a whole separate market for the service, namely the downtown businesses."

Site evaluation and station design work will start in either start late summer or fall, after contract negotiations with the design consultant are complete, Benham notes. Once design work is done, the next step, assuming continued public support, would be to develop management plans in preparation for a federal funding grant request.

Meanwhile, 24 rail cars, many of which are intended for use on the WALLY line, are being rehabilitated by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. "That project continues to move along. Those cars recently passed some federal tests that qualified them for service."

Whether WALLY will evolve past the design phase remains to be seen. The project, Benham says, is in the "out years" of Washtenaw County's 30-year transit master plan. "It's something we need to do the development work on now in order to prepare a fit for possible implementation in the future. So we're kind of taking it one step at a time."

Source: Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board's vote last week to release funding for all WALLY (Washtenaw and Livingston Railway) expenditures means the station design phase will now get underway. The total AATA budget for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012 was $230,000, most but not all of which will be applied to the station design, says Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning.

WALLY is a planned 26-mile north-south stretch of commuter railway spanning from downtown Howell to Ann Arbor. The rail line would run on existing track largely owned by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. The end point in Ann Arbor, however, is yet to be determined. Track ownership changes on the north side of Ann Arbor to the Ann Arbor Railroad, which has objected to providing passenger service, according to Benham.

The Great Lakes Central Railroad terminates in the Plymouth and Barton Road vicinity. That stop could serve the U-M Medical Center, the North Campus Research Complex, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other employers, Benham says, but, "Ideally we'd continue to go downtown and then that would open up a whole separate market for the service, namely the downtown businesses."

Site evaluation and station design work will start in either start late summer or fall, after contract negotiations with the design consultant are complete, Benham notes. Once design work is done, the next step, assuming continued public support, would be to develop management plans in preparation for a federal funding grant request.

Meanwhile, 24 rail cars, many intended for use on the WALLY line, are being rehabilitated by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. "That project continues to move along. Those cars recently passed some federal tests that qualified them for service."

Whether WALLY will evolve past the design phase remains to be seen. The project, Benham says, is in the "out years" of Washtenaw County's 30-year transit master plan. "It's something we need to do the development work on now in order to prepare a fit for possible implementation in the future. So we're kind of taking it one step at a time."

Source: Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Helping to shore up Ypsilanti's ranks of homeowners is LiveYpsi, a new home loan program being rolled out for Eastern Michigan University employees. The program offers $7,500 grants to buy primary residences within Ypsilanti city limits. The proceeds may be used towards a down payment or other purchase costs and are forgivable on a pro-rata basis, at 20% of the amount each year; after five years, the entire amount is forgiven.

Funded by EMU, Washtenaw County, and the DTE Energy Foundation, the new program is a smaller-scale version of Live Midtown, which offers forgivable loans for employees of Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health System, and the Detroit Medical Center, to purchase homes in Midtown Detroit, according to Leigh Greden, EMU's executive director of governmental and community relations

"We believe that having EMU employees live in the city of Ypsilanti is a win-win-win for everyone," Greden says, in reference to the city, the university, and its employees. "It's a win for the city because it assures that our employees, who tend to be highly educated and to have stable employment with the university, will own a home in the community, they'll take care of the home, they'll pay taxes, they're more likely to walk to work, they're more likely to become involved in the community, and they're more likely to shop at local businesses here in Ypsilanti."

The pilot project becomes official and will begin taking applications within the next week, says Greden. Current funds available total $70,000, or enough for nine home purchases. EMU will continue to seek additional funding sources and partners.

"Based on the interest we've received so far...we think we'll run out of the money quickly because there's a lot of demand amongst our employees."

More information on the program is available here.

Source:  Leigh Greden, EMU's executive director of governmental and community relations
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

At long last, the Dexter Wellness Center is getting in shape to open its doors. The Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation has signed on to operate the center, which will be constructed by A.R. Brouwer at 2810 Baker Road, a half-mile's walking distance from downtown Dexter.

The 46,000-square-foot family center will be a full-service facility with a swimming pool, a therapy pool, mind-body space for pilates and yoga, massage therapy, a gym, and strength and aerobic conditioning equipment.

Programming for children of all ages will be offered, as will assistance for medical patients. "We'll work with local providers to transition patients from the hospital ... We have programs for them when they're discharged so we can help with strengthening and make their quality of life better," says Amy Heydlauff, executive director of the Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation (CWF).

A physical therapy practice run by Medical Rehabilitation Specialists, but not affiliated with CWF, will occupy 2,000 square feet in the building.

Construction will commence after the builder removes some existing structures on the property. "We're anticipating an opening date of either summer or early fall of '13," Heydlauff says. Usage fees have not been set yet, but will be commensurate with comparable facilities in Ann Arbor and Chelsea.

She figures the center will employ, at minimum, 100 people.

Source:  Amy Heydlauff, executive director, Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Downtown Chelsea is getting its dining chops on this fall. Pork chops and barbecue, to be exact.

Phil Tolliver, who has worked with barbecue pitmaster Mike "The Legend" Mills, is planning to open Smokehouse 52 by late October or early November. Tolliver also owns a Bear Claw Coffee shop on U.S. 12 and recently sold his True North Jerky business, the proceeds of which he is investing in Smokehouse 52.

Smokehouse 52 will be located at 121-125 Main St. The 1890 building, which still retains much of its original interior, will undergo a sensitive renovation.

"Whatever I can leave, I'm going to leave," Tolliver says. The tin ceiling stays. And the original maple plank flooring, currently tiled over, will be re-exposed. The biggest effort will involve converting the kitchen into a restaurant-grade kitchen, "and then we have to figure out how to get a 3,000-pound barbecue pit to the inside walls," he adds.

The restaurant will have vintage Americana on display, such as an 1878 flag and a school bell. Its main floor will seat 180-190 for lunch and dinner, with full bar service. Tolliver expects to add 45-50 new jobs.

Source: Phil Tolliver, owner of Smokehouse 52
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Look at the grounds of many elementary schools around Ann Arbor, and besides the standard-issue playground equipment and flora, you'll see another type of landscaping: edible gardens.

"To the best of our knowledge, there are eight or nine school gardens at the elementary level," says Elissa Trumbull, a founding board member of Agrarian Adventure, an Ann Arbor nonprofit that supports school gardening and food production efforts. The Ann Arbor Preschool and Family Center also has raised garden beds, while Tappan Middle School has a garden, fruit trees, and a passive solar greenhouse.

"The growth in school gardens that we're seeing in Ann Arbor Public Schools is reflective of what we're seeing on a nation-wide level," she adds.

There is no count of aggregate food production between all the schools, Trumbull says. Crops are being used for class lessons, special events, and donations to food gatherers and food pantries.

The produce grown is not currently being served in cafeterias. In a pilot program last year, salad greens and radishes grown for 7th grade coursework at Tappan Middle School were served in all the middle school cafeterias in the Ann Arbor district. "That is unprecedented in the country as far as I know, working with a district of this scale [that already has] a contracted food service provider," she says. The district contract with Chartwells.

"Nationwide, school gardeners are convening and working towards finding safe and healthy ways to have school garden-grown food included in school lunch programs."

Source: Elissa Trumbull, founding board member of Agrarian Adventure
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Instead of Belgian waffles at 217 S. Fourth Ave. in downtown Ann Arbor, it'll be eye candy in the form of bikes from Italian, Swiss, and American companies on offer at the new Transition Rack bike shop. A previous deal to open a waffle shop in the space fell through, making room for the specialty bikes to move in.

Majority owner Will Jurkowski, who has been running Transition Rack from a lower-level space below Afternoon Delight on E. Liberty St. since January, is more than doubling his shop size with the new location. The store specializes in triathlon, road, and cyclocross bikes made by BMC, Colnago, and Quintana Roo, as well as shoes, helmets, gloves, and other accessories.

The shop also has a fitting studio and large repair area. It's open Monday through Saturday to start; Sunday hours may be added, Jurkowski will likely hire more staff, but is still determining needs.

"We want it to be a welcoming atmosphere, [where] anyone can come and learn about bikes, whether they're a beginner or they're experienced ... We all had help when we began doing triathlon and cycling, and that we'd like to pass that along to everyone else who is interested," Jurkowski says.

Source: Will Jurkowski, owner, Transition Rack
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The University of Michigan has opened a new energy-efficient Modular Data Center, the very first of its kind in the nation.

What distinguishes the new center from others is its modular design and a cooling system that uses ambient outdoor air (when the temperature is below 80 degrees) to cool the equipment, rather than the costly process of using recirculated chilled air for cooling, according to Andy Palms, director of communications systems and data centers at U-M.

The center was built to lower the cost of computing for researchers and to be more environmentally friendly, Palms says.

The $6 million center at 2901 Baxter Road in Ann Arbor is the size of three shipping containers. "Typically you used to look at data centers in terms of how many square feet they have, just pretty much like any building ... but now what's become more important is the electrical capacity of the data center," Palms explains.

The new center has a one-megawatt capacity. In total the entire university consumes about 85 megawatts of electrical capacity. Compare that with another data center built earlier at the university, which cost $20 million and consumes two megawatts of power.

"When [the Modular Data Center] is full, we are expecting that the charge for electricity will be about $600,000 per year, but in a traditional data center we'd expect our electrical bill to be about $1.2 million a year," Palms says.

Its modular construction leaves room for two more pods to be built onsite. "Hopefully our researchers will receive more grants and will need more capacity, and we could, at least at this particular location, add two more of them." And with technology changing at whirlwind speed, "it might be that future modules that we purchase might have even more efficient cooling in them," he adds.

Source: Andy Palms, director of communications systems and data centers at U-M
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

A tour of the facility at 2901 Baxter Road will be held for U-M faculty, staff, and researchers on June 14 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

It is con mucho gusto that Adam Baru, owner of the hip Mani Osteria & Bar, will be extending his culinary reach to south-of-the-border cuisine with the impending opening of his new Mexican restaurant next door to Mani, at the intersection of E. Liberty and S. Division streets.

The yet-to-be-named eatery, with a planned early fall debut, will share a wall and an interior connection with Mani, Baru says.

Later this month, he will travel with his chef, Brendan McCall, to Mexico City on a food and cultural tool to derive inspiration for the menu and décor. Baru anticipates the menu will be a modern mix of traditional Mexican cuisine and antojitos (street food).

The 2,600-square-foot restaurant will have 75-80 seats.

"The space is currently unoccupied and has been for a period of time, so it's really just a ceiling, a floor, and a door, so we'll be doing a full renovation to the space," says Baru. "The design really will be very much in the spirit of what we've done at Mani." The restaurants will share the same architect, design team, and contractor.

"We've had a really wonderful year at Mani. Being right next door, I think it [will create] some nice synergies between the two restaurants."

Source: Adam Baru, owner, Mani Osteria & Bar
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar